Rep. Steve Cohen invoked the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at a congressional hearing on federal marijuana policy, slamming as “ludicrous” a policy that puts marijuana in the same category as heroin.

“It is ludicrous, absurd, crazy, to have marijuana in the same level as heroin,” Cohen said at the hearing on Tuesday. “Ask the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, if you could. Nobody dies from marijuana. People die from heroin.”

The Tennessee Democrat was questioning Michael Botticelli, the deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, at a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing on federal drug policies. Cohen said while he understands Botticelli can’t himself change the categorization of marijuana, his “handcuffed” office should be able to listen to scientists about the dangers of the drug compared to others.

Cohen said until the nation’s drug policies are changed, deaths like Hoffman’s are on the government’s hands.

“Every second we spend in this country trying to enforce marijuana laws is a second that we’re not enforcing heroin laws, and heroin and meth are the two drugs that are ravaging our country,” Cohen said. “And every death, including Mr. Hoffman’s, is partly the responsibility of the federal government’s drug priorities for not putting total emphasis on the drugs that kill, that cause people to be addicted and have to steal to support their habit.”

Cohen also mentioned a young woman he knew who also died of a heroin overdose, saying it’s not just Hoffman’s death the government should worry about.

Marijuana and heroin are both categorized as Schedule 1 drugs by the government, which is the classification for the most dangerous drugs that have a high potential for abuse.